Ch. 1 An Old Enemy
Hey look I'm back! yeah it's been literal years, I had the thought of rewriting the first three stories that I wrote back then, I never got the time or imagination until now, so here we go. first chapter of the re writing process!
Traveling through the middle of the desert, in a long forgotten road, a midnight black Ford Mustang with double charcoal black racing stripes running down the middle, the car moved at a very high speed, leaving trails of sand and dust from the ground around the road, inside it sat a single man, leaning down on the driver's seat hands off the steering wheel and resting behind his head. Man and machine sharing a bond that went much more than the stereotypical feeling of a man for his car, this went far beyond that, for this car was nowhere near normal, the shell of the car in reality served as the home for the most advanced artificial intelligence ever conceived by mankind, the Knight Industries Three Thousand, KITT to those that knew and worked with him, but an AI can't work alone, inside remained his driver, Michael Knight, Ex-Army ranger and good friend of the one person that conceived said AI, Dr. Charles Graiman, scientist extraordinaire and founder of the Knight Research and development agency, sadly Dr. Graiman had been killed about a year ago in a supposed plane accident, the organization closed down and KITT was decommissioned and his AI chip was extracted by the government lead agent that used to work with them, Alex Torres, luckily Mike, Sarah Graiman, Daughter of Charles Graiman, and Billy Morgan and Zoe Chae, lead techs of the organization managed to avoid the lockdown and assigned themselves the task of recovering KITT, after a while they managed to make a new AI chip for KITT and Mike was sent out for him, the rescue was a success, yet on their way back they realized that the real motive why they had taken KITT's AI chip had been to try and fix KARR's faulty programing, KARR, unlike KITT, had as primary directive the self-preservation, the two AIs battled, and despite KITT not being able to access his systems entirely they managed to defeat the evil AI, Torres, however, was killed In the process, after that, they decided to reinstitute FLAG, the Foundation for Law and Government, their work was now centered around solving cases that regular law enforcement was unable, that had a little under a year ago, currently AI and driver where driving on their way back from a long mission, KITT was taking over the driving while Mike took a while to rest, it was just fine for the AI, it gave him more time to enjoy the drive back, it wasn't until they were under five minutes from their base that he decided to wake up his driver "Mike" no answer "Michael"
"KITT…"
"I'm sorry to wake you up but we are approaching the base"
"How close are we?" he said as he straighten up his seat again
"We are under five minutes away"
"Okay, contact base, tell them we're about to enter"
"I already tried, they are not answering"
"Maybe they just went to take a break"
"Unlikely…but possible"
"Let's just go, I'll check if they're asleep as soon as we get back in"
A few minutes later and both where heading down the tunnel that lead to the main chamber of the building where KITT took residence, no one was in the near rooms, Mike got out of the car and walked towards where he knew the others' rooms where, he knocked on their doors but found that no one was around
"Michael"
"Yeah KITT?"
"I scanned the building and there is no one here"
"Maybe they went out on for something?"
"I don't think they did"
"Why do you say that?"
"Because all of their cars are in the garage, there is no other way for them to leave if they didn't take their cars, I don't like where this is going"
"Neither do I KITT…we need to find them, and fast"
"I am receiving an encrypted call, it's from Sarah's cell phone"
"Think you can patch it through my earpiece KITT?"
A second later and he had the call through his earpiece "Hey Sarah, where are you guys?" Mike was expecting to hear back Sarah's voice, that was why when that didn't happen his blood ran ice cold
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Who is this?"
"Surprising, you already forgot…I thought you'd remember, it hasn't even been that long"
"Cut the chase already, who are you and what did you do to Sarah?"
"She's fine, and she will continue to be as long as you do exactly as I say"
"…what do you want?"
"You will get an address shortly, you will go alone and wait for instructions there, understood?"
"Crystal clear…how do you know about us?" a second later and the call ended "great…KITT please tell me you have an ID on the caller"
"The speaker had a voice jammer that I could not decrypt in time"
"what about an address?"
"I'm sorry Michael, but the call was encrypted and re-routed through several locations, I did not have enough time to track it"
"Don't worry KITT, not your fault…did you get the address?"
"I just did, I tried to track the origin but even though I wasn't able to entirely decipher the place I can tell that it is not the same place that this address leads"
"How can you be so sure if you weren't able to figure out the address?"
"Because the place where I last detected the signal was not even close to the one they sent"
"And our best course of action would be?"
"To do what they say"
Rather reluctantly Mike got inside KITT and they headed out to the address that they had gotten, on their way they discussed at length the possibilities of why and what could happen with the situation they were currently facing, all in all there was nothing they could do other than do what they were told to, simply because they were completely in the dark as to what was happening with the rest of their team and it was too big a risk to try something different. It took them a while to actually arrive to the address but in the end they found themselves in the back of an old abandoned building, the only entrance/exit in sight was a small single door
"KITT can you see anything inside the building?"
"The whole building is protected with a specialized electromagnetic shield, I am unable to scan anything within immediate range"
"Will my earpiece work if I go in?"
"I don't think so" Just then, three men came out from the door and stood in front of the car "I think that's your cue" Mike shot a half smile to KITT as he opened the door, he slowly got out and closed the door behind him, taking a few steps away from KITT and stopping until he was between them and the Mustang, for a few seconds nothing happened, then the three brought up their guns, Mike immediately raised his hands in response
"Drop your gun" Mike stood still for a few seconds before slowly reaching for his back and grabbed his gun, dropping it slowly in the floor and kicking it off to a side "shut down the car"
"What?"
"Shut the car out now!"
Mike turned to look at KITT out of the corner of his eye and was able to pick up the change in the speed of the tracking motion of his scanner to be slightly quicker, he knew KITT didn't like the idea of leaving him in the dark, and to be honest, neither did he, but at this point, there was nothing they could do. After a few seconds Mike placed a hand on top of KITT's scanner, shooting a side-glance at the three men with the guns "Shut down all systems" a second later a low hum could be heard as the computer started to shut down and the ruby red scanner went dark, Mike removed his had from the car and glared at the men, at that point the three approached the ranger and took him inside the building, while that happened another group came from one of the neighboring buildings and approached the Mustang, the group surrounded the Mustang, three stood in front and on the sides with guns at the ready while three more secured some chains to the back of it to be able to pull it, after a little while a pick-up truck came around the corner of the far building, the chains that where attached to the Mustang where secured to the truck and they started pulling it slowly, the first three men kept on walking behind them being careful of keeping watch. Meanwhile this was happening inside the buildings Mike was taken to a large van in the other side of the building, the men that brought him in got in with him, the windows where blacked out and as soon as they were all inside the van took off quickly to an unknown location.
It was a while before Mike felt the van finally stop, everyone got down and he was able to see that they were in a smaller building than the one he had left off in, at the moment there were only two questions that had him worried out of him mind: where were Sarah and the others, and where was KITT, he was sure they hadn't brought him here, if they were smart enough to tell him to shut him off back there then they were smart enough to keep him away from any of them, yet all this thoughts kept him worried, he was pulled out of that train of thought when he was pushed into one of the separate areas of the small building, there were relatively few people here, he supposed that if he could find Sarah, Billy and Zoe they could take the people down, get out and find KITT, he was half expecting the Mustang to have some sort of backup plan and come crashing down for them, but after seeing that the people here had some advances computer equipment he supposed that plan was not going to work, was KITT on his way here? Did he even knew where they were…was he even okay?... that last thought kept him on edge, he couldn't contact him and just left him deactivated and out in the open, he was sure that there where probably more people around, this was not looking good. They kept walking for a little while before they turned to a separate room, they opened the door and pushed mike in before locking the door once more
"Mike!" The man turned around and found Sarah Billy and Zoe in the room
"Sarah, Billy, Zoey, are you all right?"
"We're fine but we need to get out of here quickly"
"Why what's going on here?"
"I don't exactly know yet but I heard them talking a while ago, they're after KITT, we can't let them get to him"
"…I…I think it might already be a little too late for that…"
"Mike?..."
"They lured KITT and I out to another place, they got me and I had to leave KITT back there deactivated…if you're sure about what you just said then they might already have him"
"Do you know where he might be?"
"I double they'll bring him here, and he's surely not where I left him"
"We need to find a way out of here and get to KITT"
"There are not too many people around here, we could probably take them down and work our way up from there, but our main problem right now is how to get out from here"
"Mike we can't let them get access to any of KITT's internal systems whatsoever, if they already have KITT, then out time is running out very fast"
"Do you have any ideas as to how we can et out of here?" At that a small slime formed up on Sarah's face as she turned to look at Zoe, who was currently wearing the same expression.
Some distance away inside a bigger warehouse-like building, through one of the main gates the pick-up was pulling the Mustang to the further end of the place, the large door closed behind them as they kept pulling, the place had a few computer stations about the place with several people working on each station, at the very back rested a makeshift division separating the main area from whatever remained on the back the truck kept on pulling the AI until it reached a platform near the back of the building, they unhooked the truck and secured the chains to the platform before leaving, the only people that remained around the AI where a small group of armed men that kept watching over to make sure nothing happened, they had very specific instructions to inform their superior if the AI came back online
He was sure they were oblivious to his actions, he had managed to bring his systems back a few minutes ago, but was smart enough to keep his scanner off in order to remain in the dark to them, there wasn't much that he could do, he was already trapped in this place since he was able to get his systems back up, he couldn't tell much of his surroundings either, the same field he had detected earlier was covering this place as well, he was in the dark to anything that wasn't within his field of vision, the only immediate threat he perceived at the moment where the armed guards around him, the only exit was closed off by a large thin metal door that he was sure he could crash out of, the only problem with that, was that as he continued to examine his surroundings he was able to detect a small device that was stuck to his side, above his left rear tire, said device had the purpose of diminishing his abilities, he couldn't use his engine to its full extent and that meant he couldn't get the boost needed to break the chains holding him with the amount of space he had, the other big problem was that his Nano shield was not working to its best ability, meaning that he couldn't break through the door, and that if there were any more powerful weapons that he wasn't aware of things could go south very quickly for him. At this point there wasn't much he could do, his processor was clouded with thoughts about Michael and the others, they still didn't know where Sarah, Billy and Zoe where, and Mike surely wasn't nearby, he had to make his way out of this place and focus on finding the others. Some more minutes went by and nothing of interest really happened, KITT was pulled out of his train of thought by an all too familiar sound, it was an engine, one that he thought he wouldn't have to listen to ever again after that fatal night in the middle of the desert, from around the corner on the wall behind him came an all-black Mustang, identical to him in every visual aspect, except for the amber yellow scanner that was tracking back and forth on top of the car's grille, the corrupted AI had returned and it looked like he had given himself some upgrades since the last time they met, to make matters even worst, the driver's door opened and from it climbed down Alex Torres, both in front of him where ghosts from the past, both presumed dead after that one battle had concluded…oh how wrong they were…the menacing AI drove forwards some more, the men that where around him stepped aside, obviously afraid of the AI, he knew there was no hiding it now, KARR probably knew he was back online, in response to KARR's approach, he brought his bright red scanner back on, it tracked back and forth in an apparent calm manner, had Mike or any of the others been around, they would've immediately detected the subtle change that this had in comparison to the normal tracking motion, at this moment he was all but calm, no one could possibly remain calm under the ice cold stare that the older AI had. "Dear little brother, I take it you are surprised to see me"
Even the memory of that voice was unsettling, to listen to it back again sent a shiver through the AI's core, but he wouldn't let him know that, first thing there is to know about KARR, never let him know what you think or feel, because he'll use it to his advantage "KARR, indeed, such an…unpleasant surprise, for lack of a better term"
"You disappoint me, truly, such an easy task to get to you, and I thought this was going to take much more, all because of your devotion to that one traitorous human, Michael Knight. One of the many reasons why I am still a better developed AI that you" by the end of the sentence KARR had moved a little closer to KITT and the threatening rumble of his engine was one of the few sounds around
"KARR, that's enough" the rogue AI stared to back off slowly after that, stopping when he was once again next to Torres "I see you've been getting to terms with each other, KITT"
"Agent Torres, I must say I did not believe we would be hearing much of you, not after that one encounter that night"
"as you might already know, things always tend to have an interesting turn of events every once in a while, I have to say, that it was awfully easy for us to get close to you, kind of disappointed about that"
"you of all people should know that neither Michael or I had any other way of solving this dilemma, especially when there are not one, but three guns pointed in your direction"
"that was just a little thing to make sure things worked for us the way we were expecting, I am sure you already noticed that device that we got into you earlier, we'll be needing you to give us access to your AI core, and because I already know you won't cooperate voluntarily, I have no choice but doing it the hard way" another man then came out and plugged in a thick cable to the center of the device that was stuck to KITT "we'll start draining your remaining energy so that we can get this over with quick" he turned around and started to walk away "also, KARR will be keeping you company while we wait, I'm sure you have quite some things to…discuss with each other" as soon as Torres was out of viewing range KITT turned his attention to the computer that had the other end of the cable attached to it, he needed to find a way of getting free, he couldn't allow them to get access to his core, and he knew there was only one way to get rid of the cable…and he was not going to like it.
He focused his power in his rear boosters, once they reached the redline he let the pressure go, breaking the chains in one swift motion, it was then that all hell broke loose…
Please review, it helps a lot, if you have any ideas feel free to speak up
